Starting Over
by Mitsu-Mitsu-chan
Summary: this is an old story i wrote involving ff7 characters. characters death.
1. Chapter 1

This is a really old fan fic, I wrote it about 2 years ago- hope you like it.

It happened in the Forgotten City, before he ever entered it and saw Kadaj's gang. It was there even before he heard anything about Kadaj's gang from Reno and Rufus Shinra. That feeling; the feeling of being held back. He felt he would truly be forever walking alone. Ever since the death of Aeris.  
Aeris; that name was enough to pull at his heartstrings. And it hurt even worse of late- he had been having visions of her- some where she would laugh and speak to him, even touch his shoulder. Oh how he missed her.  
He now sat on the edge of his bed, watching Tifa intently as she slept. He knew she liked him- maybe even loved him. He sighed. Here was a woman who actually cared about him and all he did was push her away. He got up and looked out the window at the starry night of Midgar. Every time Tifa looked at him his heart jumped- this reminded him of Aeris. Why did she pick Zack over him? Why did they both have to die? He glared out at the statue overlooking the town. He jumped when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.  
"Cloud? Are you allright?" Tifa asked worriedly. "It's nothing..." Cloud looked down. "Cloud.." she persisted. He looked into her eyes. "You can talk to me....but why won't you?" He glanced back over to the window, shifting his weight a bit. Tifa tugged on his shirt. "Please?"  
Tifa sat a cup of coffee in front of Cloud. It was close to three in the morning but both entities were wide-awake. She sat down across the table from Cloud so they were face to face.  
"So," the brunet looked at the blonde man earnestly. "What is it?" She wanted to say, 'What is it this time' but how could she be so cold to Cloud? Cloud averted his eyes to the decorative table cloth, pulling at the frayed edges. "I think.. I don't need to tell you what's wrong...it's the same as always." Tifa looked a little hurt; true, she did know what was going on- what was on his mind. Aeris. The woman she had to compete with. She mentally laughed. She was competing with a dead woman. She finally spoke. "Maybe, but it's not going to help if you just keep thinking about her and don't tell someone what's on your mind." She reached out and softly placed her hands on Clouds. He met her gaze again. She looked so worried. He took her hands in his and quietly said" Tifa-I'm sorry I can't be the man you want me to be. I just- need more time." At this point Tifa's eyes were watering. "Cloud- it's been over three years! Please-" She squeezed his hands as he seemed a little nervous. "We can get through this together!"  
"But I'm not fit to-"  
Here Tifa interrupted him, placing her smooth hands on either side of his face. "No! Don't say that! Don't ever say that! You are fit to be with me.." Their faces got closer and Cloud found himself almost giving in and breaking through. "..but only if you want to be.."  
Cloud was about to close the space between them when the kitchen door opened and a sniffling Marline entered rushing to Tifa's side. "Tifa!I-I had a bad dream!" Tifa looked at Cloud and sighed. She took Marline's hand escorting her back to bed with soothing words.  
Cloud looked out the window seeing that the sun had just begun its journey over the city. He knew what he had to do.

Tifa came back into the kitchen and looked around for her blonde-haired crush but didn't see him. Then she heard it- the sound that only ment more space. She looked out the window as Cloud's motorcycle kicked up dust and he sped off. It was enough to make Tifa breakdown right then and there- but she had to take care of the kids, the bar to open and customers to attend to. She held back her tears once more and began her work.  
He shut off the engine and took a look around the Forgotten City seeing the white, blue-green trees with their ominous glow. He sat down near the waters edge going over the conversation he'd had earlier with Tifa. He had almost kissed her. He blushed at the thought. He hadn't been the only one who wanted that kiss- why had he eft again? Suddenly he could feel something very sharp pressing into his neck. He turned his head slightly to see..  
"Brother!" It was his insane clone brother, Kadaj. Cloud was about to reach for his sword when Kadaj pulled his double katana away from his neck.  
"So Cloud, what brings you back here?" Kadaj paced n front of Cloud, eying him peculiarly. "None of your business." Cloud turned his head away from Kadaj but still kept a wary eye on him. "Aw common! We are brothers, you know!" Cloud stood up and began walking away. "Brothers my ass!" He muttered. Kadaj scowled and aimed his sword at Cloud's back charging forward, but Cloud was quick on the draw and swiftly pulled out his own sword blocking the clones attack. Neither one of them gave in, trying to push the other down.  
"You haven't even told me where mother is!" Cloud rolled his eyes and pushed Kadaj onto the ground, gaining energy from his rage, his sword pointing right at the silver haired mans face.  
"Is that what this is all about? This whole surprise attack?" Kadaj was silent, only the sound of labored breathing could be heard. Cloud pressed the sword to Kadaj's neck, almost piercing his skin. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you." He glared down at Kadaj who flinched and mumbled something. "What?" Cloud pierced his skin slightly, watching the crimson line appear and trail down his neck. Through clenched teeth, Kadaj responded a little louder, "What would Tifa think?"  
Cloud froze. Kadaj smirked. He had hit a weak spot. Cloud realized he was right. Tifa was against killing people, not hurting them or injuring them, just killing them; what would she think? He withdrew his sword, trudging back to his bike.  
Kadaj watched as he drove off, smirking to himself.  
He had a plan.

The wind blew through the top of the old ramshackle of a church disturbing the luminous lilies and pools of water that covered the floor. Cloud sat against the wall pulling off his gloves. He sighed rubbing his hands over his face and through his platinum blonde hair. It felt like ages since he had been here, yet he was in this exact position only yesterday.  
The wind whistled through the church again and he could have sworn he heard Aeris' voice. The old rusty door was roughly slammed open revealing a black haired man in a long wine red cape. His mahogany red eyes were filled with worry and then relief as they rested on the blonde.  
"Vincent," Cloud looked curiously at his friend standing up and dusting his pants off. "What are you doing here?"  
Vincent stepped more into the church. " Cloud, something's wrong." Vincent stared directly into Cloud's eyes. "It's about Tifa." Cloud's breath hitched. "What?! What happened?!?" Vincent looked away, seeming to hide behind the collar of his cape. Memories of Lucrecia welled up inside of him, remembering this familiar feeing that Cloud was now experiencing.  
"Come on, Cloud. The kids need you."  
Cloud hurriedly got on Fenrir, and sped off towards the bar.

Vincent and Cloud entered the house immediately seeing Marline and Denzel on the couch. It was obvious that Marline had been crying. Denzel was trying to be strong for his sister, but tears stained his cheeks. Cloud went straight to them, gathering them into his strong arms.  
"Cloud! You're back!" Denzel and Marline hugged him. Vincent interrupted their tender moment with a cough. " Denzel, Marline, do you know who took Tifa?" Marline's eye began to water again. She and her brother shook their heads.  
Cloud placed a hand on Denzels shoulder. "Did you see what they looked like?" Denzel scanned his memory and slowly nodded. " Well, I couldn't really tell who they were, but I remember there were three of them, and they all had gray hair. Me and Marline were back in our room playing when we hear Tifa yelling. We came out but they were already outside.. I'm sorry Cloud." Denzel looked down, rubbing away his tears with his arm. Cloud sighed. "Denzel, its not your fault. Don't blame yourself." A voice in the back of Coud's head whispered 'no, it wasn't he fault, it was mine'.  
He shook off the voice and thought back on what Denzel had said. They had gray hair. He knew who had taken her; Kadaj and his gang. "So I'm guessing you know who took her?" Vincent interrupted his thoughts. He nodded glaring and clenching his fist, mentally cursing himself. Kadaj was getting back at him.  
"Vincent, I need you to take Denzel and Marline to Barret's. I'm going to find Tifa, along with Kadaj and his gang." He gave a look to the kids to assure them everything would be all right, but even he wasn't so sure of that. With that, he left for the Forgotten City again.

The Sun was beginning to set on the Forgotten City giving the bright trees a foreboding glow, only adding to Cloud's anxious heart. He turned off his bike and paced towards the center of the forest, hand at the hilt of his sword prepared to strike at any moment. To his left he heard voices echoing off the portentous trees. He hid behind one of the trees, watching closely as Kadaj spoke to his brothers, Yazoo and Loz. He looked around for Tifa and spotted her lying on the ground, arms and legs bound together and clearly unconscious.  
Clouds heart beat faster. How dare they do this to her, she had done nothing to them. He stepped out into the clearing, staring angrily at Kadaj. The three silver haired men turned to him, smirking, completely undaunted. "Nice to see you again, dear brother!"  
Kadaj gave a sign with his hand and his associates lunged for Cloud. He ran towards Tifa, but Loz was quick and dashed in front of him pushing him backwards almost knocking him off balance. Yazoo shot a few rounds at Cloud, only one nicking his shoulder, the rest he deflected back at him. Loz caught Cloud off guard and punched him square in the jaw  
Yazoo and his brother took this chance to restrain him with their arms. Cloud staggered into a standing position trying to force his way out of their grip but it was useless. Kadaj gave a smile of satisfaction.

"I only came for Tifa, please, let her go." Kadaj stepped towards the unconscious woman, glancing over his shoulder at the blonde. "What's this? Big brothers pleading now, is he?" Cloud scowled and gazed at Tifa, struggling in the grip of his brothers to save her.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're just wasting energy, brother! Energy that we need!" Yazoo whispered tightening his hold. Soon, both of your energies will be ours and we'll bring mother back!" He continues to speak, picking Tifa up by the collar of her black shirt. "She looks so much like mother, you know?" He flashed a look of pride over at Cloud and back to Tifa. She was starting to wake up. "wha- what?" Her eyes focused on kadaj and she glared at him, wiggling in his grasp. "So she's awake." Kadaj thrust her against a tree, holding her up by her neck. She whimpered, tears of pain flowing from her eyes.  
"Tifa!" Cloud couldn't take it. He needed to help her; he promised he'd always be there. "Cloud-" Tifa blushed. He was here, just like he said he would be. Kadaj growled, squeezing his hands tight around her neck, ending their tender moment. "Stop!" Cloud thrashed, kicking the two holding him back. Kadaj released his grip and se fell weakly to the ground coughing. "Now for the materia ."  
The gang's leader sauntered over to the black chest containing the materia he had stolen earlier from Cloud. Cloud finally broke free from Loz and Yazoo punching both of them. He ran over to Tifa.

It was a chase from then on. Cloud ran as fast as he could, holding his dearly beloved in his arms. Yazoo shot many rounds, al of them missing. Loz was catching up to them, almost at Cloud's back. That's when it happened. He dropped Tifa. Everything moved in slow motion as Cloud watched one of Yazoo's bullets pierce her side. She fell to the ground. Cloud's eyes grew wide in horror. Loz grabbed Cloud. He didn't move- just looked down at Tifa who was bleeding from her wound.  
Yazoo picked her up carefully and Loz drug a stunned Cloud back to their base. They tied Cloud up and propped him up next to Tifa by a tree. Kadaj gave a cackle upon seeing their return. He abruptly stopped when he saw she was mortally wounded. He growled and glared over at Yazoo and Loz. He proceeded to yell at them leaving Tifa and Cloud alone. "Tifa!!" Cloud nudged her but she didn't respond. "Tifa!" Still nothing.  
Kadaj was now approaching them, holding a pink glowing orb of materia. "Now then, where were we?"

At that precise moment a loud gunshot rang through the forest, the pink orb flew from Kadaj's hand. There was a red blur that flashed across the clearing knocking Kadaj over. He jumped up unsheathing his double katana, Yazoo and Loz behind him ready to fight. "It's you again." Kadaj grimaced and attacked the intruder. "Vincent!"  
Cloud was extremely thankful he had come when he did. Vincent smirked as he jumped from tree to tree dodging Yazoos bullets and pushing Loz down whenever he got too close. He fired back at Yazoo with his own gun, causing him to drop his gun sword into the lake below. He cursed himself and watched as Loz quickly dodged Vincent's bullets catching up to the pale, black haired man. He threw punches and jabs at the red caped man, missing every time, even with his super speed.  
Vincent had finally had enough and hit Loz over the head with the end of his gun. Loz fell flat face to the ground and tried to get back up. Vincent bent over Loz and removed his super speed device crushing it in his golden claw. Loz looked like he was about to cry. Vincent sprinted back to where his friends were being held captive, hoping he wasn't too late.

Cloud's eyes bore onto Kadaj's as he slowly made his way over to Tifa again, this time with a blue orb of material- Vincent had shattered the pink one into tiny bits. Kadaj knelt down to Tifa, scanning her over and turning back to Cloud, sneering. "Now Tifa's life source will belong to us! Then we can finally be reunited with Kaze!"  
Kadaj turned his attention to back to the wounded woman, preparing to retrieve her energy with the materia. Cloud mustered up enough energy to kick Kadaj with his bound legs knovking him back. He was right at the side of the lake, doing a strange flapping motion with his arms and crying out in surprise when he fell into the water.  
Cloud crawled his way over to his sword rubbing the sharp end of the blade against the ropes on his wrists. Kadaj finally got out of the water; now he was pissed. He whipped out his double katana trailing after Cloud who was frantically trying to sever the ropes. Kadaj swung his sword at Cloud but astonishingly it never touched him.  
Vincent blocked his assault with his gun, hastily kneeing the silver haired attacker in the gut. Kadaj dropped his sword, double taking and clutching his stomach. Vincent turned and helped Cloud with the rest of his bindings. "Vincent- Vincent, watch out!" Cloud warned. But it was too late. Kadaj had already thrust his sword through Vincent's chest, piercing all the way through his empty heart.

Cloud's eyes were as wide as Vincent's; he could see the life draining from his red eyes. Cloud's lips moved to say 'no', but nothing came out. Vincent fell to the side, a resounding thud in Cloud's mind. His blood began to boil, seeing Kadaj remove his sword from Vincent's chest with no mercy, holding his friend's body to the ground with his foot as if he were merely trash. He clutched his sword and slashed with rage, forcing Kadaj to back away. He nicked him on the cheek, seeing a crimson streak of blood appear on his sallow skin. "I'll never forgive you.." Cloud whispered, his thrashing only getting stronger watching Kadaj retreat.  
Suddenly Cloud could feel the ground shudder beneath his feet. He peeked over his shoulder to see Loz had sent a shock wave through the surface of the earth, splitting the ground in the clearing into two in his direction. He immediately leapt out of its path. He glanced back in time to see Yazoo grabbing Kadaj, dashing in the other direction to catch up with Loz.  
Cloud promptly took Tifa into his arms, running to Fenrir to escape the crumpling ground.

It was the middle of the night when Cloud finally parked his bike outside of the dilapidated church. He lifted Tifa into his arms, entering the withering building. She seemed to be breathing- there was still time. He laid her in the largest pool of water, cupping his hands and lowering them into it to catch the liquid, pouring it over her wounds. If this water still contained good materia, then it would save her just as it had saved him. Tifa's eyes slowly opened and she gave a weaksmile upon seeing Cloud's face. "Cloud-!" Her hands came to his face touching his soft skin. "You saved me- thank you." Cloud smiled- he hadn't thought he'd ever smile again. "Cloud, I-" He didn't let he finish. Instead he kissed her and held her tight. They parted, looking into each other's eyes. "I was so scared- I thought I was going to lose you." He hugged her. She frowned and pushed him away gazing into his blue eyes again. "So did you just kiss me because you were scared? Is that why..?" Cloud was hit by a twinge of shame at hearing her say this, but could he really blame her? "No... no Tifa...because I love you." He held her in a tight embrace, stroking her silken hair. Tifa's heart leapt in her chest and she knew he meant it. Tifa pulled Cloud into a fervent kiss knowing that their new life started here.

It had been a few days since that crazy day where Cloud started out confused, lost a friend, almost lost another, and fell in love again. He knew that nothing would come between him and Tifa; his past was all behind him, well, except for that day.  
He passed Tifa in the bar as she was cleaning up. He headed outside; he needed to do something. She gave him an inquisitive look and watched as he got on Fenrir and disappeared behind the brush. She smiled this time, because she knew he was coming back.  
Cloud was back in the Forgotten City, searching for the area where he originally found Kadaj and his gang, but this time he wasn't looking for them. He abruptly stopped once he saw the split earth where Loz had crushed the surface with a shock wave. Vincent's body still lay near the base of the tree, tranquil and lifeless. Cloud loomed over him, taking the body of his dear friend in his arms. It was amazing he hadn't been taken to the life stream yet. But maybe it didn't want him, the poor soul, troubled by Hojo's experiments.  
Cloud carried him over to the nearby pond, taking a few steps in, Vincent's body becoming weightless. He watched as the dead man's raven colored hair danced in the water trying to stay afloat but sinking all the same. Memories of when he did this same thing with Aeris flashed before his eyes- all the memories with her and Vincent. "Vincent; if it hadn't been for you, Tifa and I would be dead. You were a great fighter and a great friend-thank you." He bit his lip holding back the tears. Vincent's body slipped through his arms into the dark abyss of the pond. Cloud gave a sigh and watched as the last of Vincent's red cape faded into the darkness of the pond; only the glint from his golden claw was visible. He knew his place was here, with Tifa and the kids. He returned to his bike. As he was driving home, he could have sworn he saw Vincent among the trees, smiling. All of his experiences; all of his relationships, all of his pain; all of his friends who had died; He wouldn't let it weigh him down anymore, but he would never forget them.


End file.
